words – sounds – images

From July, 2018

The Priest awoke to a missing satchel of kaneh and a fire that had burned itself out. A pile of ash was all that remained. He sat up and his bones crackled like dead leaves. He looked to the heavens. “Father, what I wouldn’t give for a younger body. This one is a bit too careworn.” He stood and stretched his legs. His knees popped and buckled. He winced at the pain, but it was gone as quickly as it had come. He bent and retrieved his cloak from the floor. As he put it on, he noticed a faint…

The Moor shuffled through the snow. Her braids were stiff and frozen. She carried a wooden basket in the crook of her arm. She had begun the evening foraging for dried winterberries but had gotten distracted tracking a hare. She’d lost the hare after a couple of miles, only then realizing that she had wandered far outside her normal foraging territory. She was usually extremely careful in her travels. The children hadn’t wanted her to go at all. They had been restless and fussy. But she’d reminded them of their empty bellies. They were asleep soon after. She hadn’t slept…